Lennox Investments to buy Southport Re

Lennox Investments L.L.C. has signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire Southport Re (Cayman) Ltd., the New York-based investment group said Wednesday.

Southport Re (Cayman) is a Cayman Island-domiciled property/casualty reinsurer owned by Southport Lane Genesis L.P., a limited partnership managed by Southport Lane Management L.L.C. It wrote about $32 million in gross premiums in 2013, Lennox said in a statement.

Lennox said the reinsurer focuses primarily on underwriting long-tail lines of P/C reinsurance and is oriented toward high-frequency, low-severity risk classes, primarily within the United States and Europe.

Last October, financially troubled insurer Tower Group International Ltd. entered into an agreement to http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20131002/NEWS04/131009950 cede a 30% quota share of its workers compensation and employers liability business for losses occurring on or after July 1, 2013, and an undisclosed portion of losses on its workers compensation and employers liability business from Jan. 1, 2011, through May 31, 2013 but paid on or after June 1, 2013, to Southport Re.

“We are pleased to be moving forward quickly in our plans” to buy Southport Re (Cayman), Lennox said in the statement. “We expect to finalize the definitive transaction documentation in a timely manner and anticipate completing the transaction by the end of the second quarter of 2014, subject to customary closing conditions, including required regulatory approvals.”